One Last Redhead
by Samie05
Summary: When Sara finds out that Nick is cheating on her, is it the end of their relationship? NS -:-First Fanfic Please Review!-:-


Title: One Last Redhead  
  
Author: Samantha  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI, so please don't sue me! I don't have anything to give you anyway. Except my dogs. And I can't part with them.  
  
Author's Note: This is my first fic; so don't come hunt me down if it's bad. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and please review! This is a response to two challenges.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Son of a bitch" Sara said to herself, tears welling up in her chocolate brown eyes. After a hard day at work, Catherine had decided to treat her weary co-worker to a movie. The whole team knew that Sara and Nick had been going through a rough patch in their year-long relationship, and the elder CSI wanted to do whatever she could to make her feel better. And a girls' night out to the movies would be just the thing. At least that's what she thought.  
  
Catherine had paid for the tickets and the snacks, and they had just entered the theater, when Sara noticed a couple kissing in the back row. Sara looked back at them and gave a half smile " I remember when Nick and I used to do that" she had reflected, "But we haven't been to the movies in ages" And the two headed toward the row in front of the couple, the only two seats left together.  
  
And now, Sara and Catherine were in front of the couple, which was Nick and a petite redheaded woman.  
  
"Son of a bitch" Sara repeated ' Nicholas Robert Stokes, what in God's name do you think you're doing?!?", Sara screamed. The whole movie theater turned to look at her.  
  
"Sara I- I don't know how this happened" Nick stammered as the redhead squirmed uneasily in her chair.  
  
"You don't know how this happened!! You don't know how this happened!! What did you do, just casually meet in the popcorn line and decide to cheat on me!" Sara was bawling now, and Catherine was nervously rubbing her back and whispering, " It's ok. It's ok".  
  
"Nick maybe I should go." the redhead said quietly.  
  
"You're damn right you should go" Sara interjected " And if I ever see you around Nick again I'll beat the crap out of you!" The redhead slid past Catherine and made her way down the aisle toward the exit. Nick sat anxiously, waiting for someone to say something. Finally, Catherine spoke " Um, Sara maybe we should rent a movie instead"  
  
"Thanks Cath, and could I stay with you for a few days- if it's not to much trouble because I could always go-"  
  
"Of course you can stay honey. You stay as long as you need"  
  
"You don't think Grissom will mind?  
  
"Don't worry about it. Come on. I'll take you home to get your stuff."  
  
The two women turned and walked down the long row of stairs, Catherine's arm around her friend's shoulders.  
  
Nick sat in the movie theater, the linoleum floor sticky with soda beneath his feet, and watched the only girl he ever loved walk out of his life. Maybe forever. " I am such a jerk," he thought.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Catherine groped around the closet for the inflatable mattress, while Sara sat cross-legged on the loveseat, blowing her nose into a tissue.  
  
"I really appreciate this Cath. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what I would do". Sara said, in between sniffles.  
  
"Don't mention it honey. You know, when Eddie and I were first starting out-"  
  
"What about that good-for-nothing?" Grissom interrupted, surprised at the site of his fiancée blowing up an air mattress and the CSI sobbing on the couch. " What happened anyway?" Grissom inquired.  
  
"Lets just say-sniff- that I saw Nick-sniff- and another girl-sniff- at a most inopportune time, -sniff-if you know what I mean-sniff." Sara answered.  
  
"And you told her she could stay here?" Grisom asked, teasing playfully.   
  
"You don't mind, do you honey?" Catherine replied, wandering over to her soon-to-be husband.  
  
"No, of course not" Grissom said, all joking aside. He walked down the hall to get ready for bed. "Goodnight" he called down the hall.  
  
"Night" the women answered.  
  
"I better turn in too," Catherine said, pulling the fitted sheet over the mattress. " The bathroom's down the hall, extra blankets are in this closet, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and-oh, here's the remote. There's an old Audrey Hepburn movie on tonight. Roman Holiday. I know it's your favorite." She walked over to Sara and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning". Then she turned and walked down the hallway.  
  
Sara hit the power button on the television and lay down on the mattress, still in her clothes. 'Grissom and Catherine are so lucky', Sara thought, they really love each other.  
  
She snuggled into her pillow and breathed in deeply in an attempt to relax. A familiar scent assaulted her nostrils and brought tears to her eyes. She had grabbed the wrong pillow, and was forced to drink in the scent of Tommy Hilfiger cologne that mixed together with Zest soap to create a scent that was purely Nick. The memories of all the good times flooded back into her mind. She tried to push them back, to focus on Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, but it was no use. She realized how much she loved him, and how hard it would be without him. She closed her eyes, but the tears came anyway, and the last thought she had as she slowly cried herself to sleep was: 'what am I going to do about work tomorrow?' She briefly contemplated taking a leave of absence, but she decided that Nicky needed some cold- shouldering.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, Grissom left early for work, leaving the two women giggling at the table like teenagers. I'm glad to see she's feeling better he thought, pulling out of the apartment complex's parking lot, and headed toward the lab.  
  
He arrived in his office to see a stack of paperwork on his desk. "Let's see" he thought out loud, A drive by on fifth, and a homicide on the strip. Sara and Nick can take- oh no, I can't put them on the same case! Sara can come with Warrick and me to the drive by, and Nick and Catherine can handle the homicide". Just then, he heard a pathetic sigh coming from the break room, and watched as Nick, the only other person there, poured himself a cup of coffee and plopped down on the couch.  
  
Grissom got up out of his chair and walked down to the other CSI. He sat down next to Nick. "So", Grissom began "I heard about you and Sara. She was really upset last night. Who was that girl, anyway?"  
  
Nick hesitated before answering "A redhead. Her name was Natalie. I went to High School with her, and when she moved out here, she looked me up."  
  
"I take it this wasn't the first time you two ships had passed in the night?" Grissom asked.  
  
"No" Answered Nick sullenly, ashamed "I had been seeing her for about a month."  
  
Grissom was about to make another inquiry when Warrick, Sara, and Catherine walked in. At the sight of Nick already there, Catherine gave Sara's hand a quick, reassuring squeeze, and then shot a look at her fiance as if to say, Don't make this last any longer than it has to. Taking the hint, Grissom quickly read off the assignments: Sara, Warrick and he would take the drive by shooting, and Catherine and Nick would take the homocide.  
  
As the CSI's headed toward the parking lot, Grissom turned to Nick. "We'll finish this conversation later," he said, and Nick knew he meant it.  
  
~*~*~.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sara was the last to climb into the Tahoe, and sat in the back seat. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and sighed. By now, Warrick was the only CSI who hadn't heard about Natalie the redhead, but he knew something big must have happened between Nick and Sara. "My life is crap" Sara sighed again.   
  
"So I guess you don't want to talk about it?" Warrick asked.  
  
" Oh no, I don't mind, we could talk about it all day, I don't care anymore." Sara waited before she spoke again " Last night I saw Nick and another girl at the movies."  
  
"Oh" Warrick replied. No one spoke for the rest of the ride.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was silent in the other, Tahoe cointaning Catherine and Nick, but their's was a diffrent silence. Harsher, tenser, more awkward. Catherine's hands gripped the steering wheel, keeping her eyes on the road, paying no attention to the man in the seat beside her. She was enjoying watching Nick squirm when finnaly he spoke " You know I fell really bad about it".  
  
"You should" the driver replied, her voice stern.  
  
"And I'm really, really sorry." Nick pleaded again.  
  
"Sorry isn't good enough." she answered. Catherine's focus returned to the road, but Nick continued. "I love her" he said, more to himself than to the women next to him, "And I have to get her back".  
  
"Good luck" was the answer.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When Catherine, Sara and Grissom returned home from dinner that night, there was quite a few messages on the answering machine, all from Nick. After listening to his voice apoligize over and over and begging her to come home, Sara decided to go to bed early, and think about what Nick had said. Catherine put on a pot of coffee for the two remainig people, and Grissom said " I spoke with Nick today"  
  
"Oh"  
  
"You know, they had been together for about a month"  
  
"Ohh"  
  
Catherine took down two mugs and placed one in front of her fiance. "Do you think she'll take him back?" He asked.  
  
"I don't know, but what he did is unforgivableable. I never took Eddie back." Catherine replied with an air of experience.  
  
"You also nver knew he was cheating. Now that Sara knows it was the first time, she could give him a second chance." Grissom rationalized.  
  
"We don't know that this was the first time" Catherine said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
By the next afternoon, everyone had known about Natalie the redhead and Catherine's suspicion of Nick cheating on Sara more than once, but Greg was the only one who decided to say something about it. Finally catching Nick alone in the hall, Greg decided know would be the perfect time to complete Operation: Sara Sanders. Greg had comforted Sara from the start, and he would finish his plan by telling off Nick to make sure that he didn't go back to Sara. And after that, the two would get married on the beach and ride off into the sunset on a big white horse. After he learned how to ride a horse. And Nick would sure as hell not be invited to the wedding. Greg approached his prey, and tried to act cool. "Hey there, Nick" he said, stepping into rythem with the CSI, "I heard you and Sara had a fight".  
  
"Yeah". He answered. He really didn't want to talk to anyone about it right now, and especially not with Greg.  
  
"Listen Nick, I don't know who you think you are, treating Sara that way, but if I ever see her upset like that, I'll personally see to it that you never walk right again!" And with that, he turned on his heel and went off to find his bride.  
  
Oh great, now Greg's making me feel guilty. Nick knew that Greg had a crush on Sara, and he had gone to find her, and he would just have to find her first. Conveniently, Sara happened to be coming down the hall and stopped when she saw Nick.  
  
She took a deep breath, and continued walking.  
  
"Hey Sara" Nick said uneasily  
  
"Hello Nicholas" she said, showing no emotion.  
  
"Can I talk to you? There's something you have to know. Can I see you later? Maybe for dinner?  
  
Sara thought for a minute before answering "I guess that would be ok."   
  
"Great! I'll pick you up around seven?" the excited CSI asked.  
  
"Uh, sure. See you later." Sara said, and continued walking down the hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey Catherine? Can I borrow your silver bracelet?" Sara called, as she emerged from the bedroom in a simple, knee-length dress and strappy black sandals, all of which belonged to the elder CSI, since Sara didn't pack for a formal occasion.  
  
" Sure honey, but why- No. You're not going out with Nick tonight are you?" Catherine said, meeting her charge in the hall.  
  
"Why not? We're just going to talk." Sara asked  
  
"Oh honey, don't let him sweet-talk you into taking him back. He cheated on you, remember? He used you!" Catherine answered.  
  
"Frankly Catherine, it's none of your business whether or not I take Nick back, and it was just the first time and he knows he was wrong and-"  
  
"How do you know it was the first time!?!" Catherine said with a harshness that Sara was not used to. Sara had never thought that Nick had cheated on her before this girl, but she was sure he hadn't. 'Like Dolly Parton said' Sara thought, 'Stand by your man. At least, think I think it was Dolly Parton. Maybe it was that other girl. Oh, who cares?' The two women had stood there in silence, until Grissom noticed Nick's car pull into the lot and saw him get out.   
  
"Sara, Nick's here." he called.  
  
Without speaking, Sara grabbed her purse and stormed out the door, making her way down to meet Nick. Sara thought about what Catherine had said as she climbed into the passenger seat of Nick's car.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Nick eased the car into the parking space of an upscale Italian restaurant on Main street and cut the engine. They walked across the parking lot in an awkward silence until they entered the restaurant and Nick told the host "Stokes, party of two." The man nodded and lead the couple to a corner table with a checkered table cloth and two straw covered Chianti bottles with candles burning inside.  
  
The waiter handed them two menus and left the table. When he returned, they placed there orders, and after he had left again, engaged in small talk about the weather, books, and work.  
  
After their food had arrived, Nick said " So... Sara. I've missed you"  
  
"I've missed you too." She replied. "Nick, is this the first time you've cheated on me?"  
  
Nick took a bite of his pasta before continuing. "Yes. Honey, I never meant to hurt you... Sara, what I'm trying to say is, will you come home? I need you with me. I don't know what I'd do if you left me for good and-"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Oh Sara, please! I need you to come home! Don't you understand? It's like a part of me is missing and- wait, what did you say?" Nick asked  
  
Sara giggled, "I said yes"  
  
"I love you, Sara Elizabeth Sidle."  
  
"And I love you, Nicholas Robert Stokes."  
  
"And I promise, this is the last redhead in my life. Ever," Nick promised.  
  
"It better be!" Sara replied.  
  
A/N~ Please review!! 


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